


The Substitute Teacher

by Minaly22



Category: R.O.D: Read or Die & Related Fandoms, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Artistic Liberties, Eventual Romance, F/M, Sporadic Updates, This Plot Bunny has been annoying me for a while
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-02-23 02:50:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23704576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Minaly22/pseuds/Minaly22
Summary: Yomiko is out of a job! So she has to find one. After returning from a mission where her friend was blasted into space in a rocket, Yomiko quits her secret agent job and desperately tries to get her life back to normal again. A phone call asking her to work in a special academy in the city of Musutafu as a substitute teacher seemed like a good opportunity, and there were children that needed guidance. Better look out, because U.A won’t know what hit them!
Relationships: Yomiko Readman/Shouta Aizawa
Comments: 6
Kudos: 5





	1. The Call

**Author's Note:**

> Had this idea sitting in my head for a very long time. Finally decided to do something with it. Hopefully I will get more motivation to write more chapters for this story.

It was a sunny day in Tokyo, Jimbocho, where old bookshops thrived. Many of the stores were doing some cleaning as they braved the hot weather, and a certain legendary bibliomaniac that resides in the area was also doing her best in cleaning her entire apartment’s worth of books. Yomiko puffed a lungful of air as she set down a pile of books into one of the rooms in her apartment building. 

“Thank goodness I have air conditioning everywhere…” Yomiko spoke to one in particular. She usually just leaves her purchases strewn about in the rooms of her domain, but recently she felt like it was a good time to clean and distract herself from gloomy thoughts, which include the death of a friend, unemployment, debt, and general melancholia. Even with her special abilities making things easier, it was still difficult to clean everything especially given the hot weather. She was supremely grateful she had the foresight to install air conditioning into every room despite the fact that the electricity bill always ended up being the highest concern each month. 

After many hours she finally made her way back to her bed in the small building at the very top of the building. It was much more organized now, and a lot less dusty. Yomiko was aware that she inhales way too much dust compared to the average person, so she tries her best to clean every month. But it always returns to absolute chaos in a matter of days. Now completely done with cleaning her apartment after three days of hard work, she now possessed enough free time to start thinking of sad thoughts again.

_ ‘Oh, I miss Nancy… She would know what to do.’ _ Yomiko always thinks back to her mature and dependable friend she had only been acquainted with for a short time, but actually felt like forever. Sadly Nancy Makuhari is gone forever, now resting among the stars. Yomiko has quit from the British Library, and thankfully due to her unwillingness to involve herself with company-politics or dig too deep into secret intel - and thus not too tightly connected to the organization - was allowed to leave with minimum hassle. Yomiko thinks of and compares herself to Joker, who had way too many fingers sticking into way too many pies, and probably would never be allowed to leave, if they ever wanted to. 

She still got the money from her final mission, and that has thankfully been able to cover a majority of her debts and tide her over for daily needs, but she still needs some time to financially recover from buying “Immortal Beloved (Unsterbliche Geliebte)” in Toto Books. She has sent out letters to some of her usual contacts, certain schools that she frequently substitutes for, but it has been a whole week without any phone calls or letters from them. 

_ ‘Maybe they don’t appreciate letters anymore…’ _ Yomiko thought to herself. She knew how to operate a computer and write e-mail perfectly well, but it was never her preference. She hopes it wasn’t because of her choice of using snail mail that is discouraging the schools to hire her again. Most of the time she heads to public libraries to write emails in a pinch, as she doesn’t see the need to install a computer in her domain, but now Yomiko wonders if circumstances are finally pushing her to get familiar with electronics, as she might have better luck finding jobs from advertisements online than from local newspapers. She took out her marker and started scribbling on today’s newspaper one last time, double-checking the hiring section just in case she overlooked something. 

After she got bored and totally focused herself on doodling in the crossword puzzles, her red phone finally rang. Yomiko rarely hands out her numbers, and she prefers to stay in contact with friends through letters, so she knew this one has to be a job-related call. Taking up the phone she greeted as cheerfully as she could manage. “Hello, this is Yomiko Readman speaking!” She hopes that whoever is calling her on the other end doesn’t clue into the sadness hidden in her voice.

“Greetings Ms. Readman, this is Principle Nezu from U.A Highschool speaking.”

_ ‘U.A?’ _ Yomiko was pretty sure she never sent a letter to a school with that name. 

“We are aware that you have not directly contacted us, and that you might be confused as to why we are the one to do so, but that is because we heard from Sakura Highschool that you were seeking employment.” __

_ 'Oh, Sakura Highschool! Yes, I did send a letter there. ' _

“They currently have no openings for you but thought to recommend you to us. They are willing to vouch for your skills and to be honest, U.A. is in desperate need of substitute teachers.”

_ ‘This sounds like a perfect opportunity!’ _ Yomiko pounced on it without a second thought “Oh yes, I accept-” but was quickly interrupted.

“Pardon me, but I believe it might be better if you hear everything first.” 

Yomiko’s enthusiasm was doused slightly, but she decided to take that suggestion and listen.

“You see, U.A. High School is a very special school that teaches only the best students-” 

But quickly Yomiko realized that it was just the usual droll recitation of what is known about the school's public reputation.  _ ‘Every school says that, after all.’ _ And she started tuning the principal out. She didn’t pay much attention to what they were saying until she heard the magical words: Library.

“Our school has the best library in the city, surpassing even the local libraries. We have heard from Sakura Highschool that you’re always excited to hear about books-” 

“Oh yes! I love books very much.” Usually, this is the time when Yomiko starts rattling off book names and authors one after another, but she hasn’t been reading much this week, still too sad and raw from losing a friend. Most schools are impressed by how much she has read, and during this time of the year, she always talks about Greek Philosophies. Sunny days, after all, always reminded her of Italy and Greece the most. But she just couldn’t bring herself to think about Plato or Socrates now.  _ ‘Every heart sings a song, incomplete until another heart whispers back.’ ‘Death may be the greatest of all human blessings-’ _

“Ms. Readman? Are you still there?” 

“O-oh yes! I’m sorry but what did you say?” She realized she has gone silent for too long. 

“We said that we heard you’re able to cover for many subjects at once as a substitute teacher. The teachers in our school are quite busy and it’s difficult for us to find substitutes for specific subjects in short notice, so we would be really happy if you came and joined us.” 

“Of course! I would be delighted to!”

“Excellent. Please come to U.A Highschool in three days time, I’ll see you in the after school hours three days from now. We suggest you take the train to Musutafu-”

_ ‘Musutafu?’  _ Yomiko realized she probably missed some crucial details after she spaced out. She assumed that she would still be in Tokyo, but seems like she has to travel further away.

“- We’ll negotiate your payment in person. Don’t worry, you will be paid handsomely; it really is quite difficult to find teachers as skilled as you are, and this young too. Pleasure doing business with you, goodbye.” And the principle of U.A. hung up. 

\---------------------------------------

Yomiko frantically ran out of the packed train after reaching Musutafu station, with her trusty travel case trailing behind her, making clack-clack noises every time Yomiko took the stairs. She was wearing her usual outfit and her hair was also messy  _ (She doesn’t have the heart to do them in braids again, not so soon.) _ but she honestly has no time to comb her hair, as she doubts she can make it to U.A High school in time if she stops now. Only thirty minutes are left before the bell rings, where most students either go home or stay for other activities, and she still has a long way to go.

She threw a longing look at the taxi cabs but knew her current budget wouldn’t allow it. As she ran down the streets, she received many stares from the pedestrians for wearing a long coat on such a warm day but paid them no mind. She has made papers with low temperature with her paper powers, putting them in key locations of her body to lower her temperature, also turning them into the same color as her skin just in case (and hiding the fact that she pretty much attached a cooling pack to her forehead). Her physical condition wasn’t top-notch, but still above average compared to other agents and thus wasn’t panting heavily as she continued to run down the streets. After ten minutes of running, she felt she had made good progress and started to slow down, walking at a quick pace instead of running now. 

The streets of Musutafa were strangely clean, the same cleanliness one would see in brand-new products that have yet to be used and were just taken off the shelves. It is very disconcerting to see, as Yomiko instinctively felt that public objects like street lamps and traffic signs  _ should _ have some wear and tear but found none. She entered a busy shopping street and walked past a bookstore. She had to do everything to stop herself from plastering her face into the glass display,  _ ‘No time to read today!’  _ But she did eventually walk past it without trouble; Yomiko felt that it was because the bookstore looked brand new that has lessened the siren songs.  _ ‘New bookstores rarely have anything interesting.’ _

Just as she was about to take a turn and remove herself from the block where the bookstore would be, an explosion went off right across the street. Yomiko threw a glance backward and saw fire, but decided she really should get going-

“Hey, woman in the coat! Stop right there!” Yomiko paid it no mind and just kept walking, but soon her vision was blocked by a grotesque sludge-like figure. 

“Uhm, can you please move? I’m gonna be late for an appointment.” Yomiko tried to see if there was any other direction she could go but didn’t think of running backward. She’s already walking the quickest path to U.A.

“Nah. I’m going to take you hostage, now! Gahaha!” And sludge surged towards her. Yomiko allowed the papers hidden in her cloak to surround her, and it took on the form of a small sphere. She curled into herself and rolled forward along with the sphere, attempting to get out of whatever this sludge thing was. She really doesn’t have time for this-

“What the heck is up with this paper?” The same slimy voice shouted again, and Yomiko felt that there was an impact from outside the shield, a punch would be her guess, she just kept on rolling. But they didn’t let up and Yomiko felt more impacts hitting her paper ball. Yomiko stopped rolling after feeling herself being lifted into the air. “Eh? Oh no!”

“Well, I suppose I can still hold you hostage like this.” 

_ ‘Drats,‘ _ Yomiko realized her mistake a bit too late. She also couldn’t easily expose herself now, so she was stuck in the paper ball. While trying to think of a way to get out, she heard the voice of a young boy shouting.

“Hey, slimy bastard! Let the four-eyed lady go!” The voice sounded very brash,  _ ‘That’s not very nice, young man!’ _ Yomiko thought to herself. She heard the conversation between the Sludge-man and the young boy and thought that this might be her chance to escape from the Sludge-man’s grasp. With a gesture, the round ball that shielded her became a spiked one and spun frantically out of the sludge, but Yomiko misjudged the speed of the spinning and was too dizzy to maintain the sphere any longer. She rolled into a wall, dizzied. She still had enough awareness to hear a young scream though.

“Ah! DAMMIT LET ME GO!” And an explosion completed the sentence.

“Well well, what do we have here? Such power! If I take over your body, I can defeat All-Might in one punch!” And when Yomiko opened her eyes, she saw sludge surging upwards in an ominous pattern. 

“Hey, lady in the coat! Get out of there!” Some adults who were dressed in colorful outfits shouted from afar, but Yomiko was not paying too much attention to them.

_ ‘Well, I can just walk away… but… I don’t think I can just let the boy be hurt after trying to help me.”  _ Yomiko looked for her travel case, and found it not far from where she is, but still out of her reach.  _ ‘Oh no, I can’t get to my papers from here _ …’ 

“GAAAAAAAAH!!” And there was more explosion from the boy’s struggle. Yomiko knew that she doesn’t have time to get to her paper supply, she had to exceed her limit and try to manipulate paper from a longer distance rather than be in touching range.  _ ‘Come on girl… come on…’  _ Yomiko’s forehead dripped with sweat from her concentration and the heat of the flames surrounding her, but finally, she managed to feel a connection with the paper in the case and pulled the travel case towards her. She let out an ‘Oof’ from the force of the travel case’s flight but deftly opened the case all the same. 

Paper spilled forth, but the villain simply laughed. “What is your paper gonna do in this fire? Silly woman, hahahahaha.”

“Let him go right  _ now _ !”  **x2**

Yomiko was about to begin her attack but was shocked to hear someone mirror her words, and even more shocked to see a middle school boy with green hair run towards them. The green-haired boy threw his bag that hit the eye of the sludge-man, making him recoil in pain. The boy clawed at the sludge that was threatening to swallow his friend, but it was a futile effort.

She saw the sludge-man raise an arm to attack and decided that now was not the time to space out. She sent out a paper arm to intercept it and heard shocked gasps from the people further away. 

“You know, you remind me of dirty bubblegum. The littered kind that are stuck on the ground.” Sludge-man tried to extend another arm to attack, but Yomiko calmly started cutting off its mass with more paper and wrapped the sludge that fell off with her paper, depriving the sludge-man of its resources. “Hey wait a min-” The sludge-man was trying to speak but Yomiko simply took his opening and cut off more sludge. Every time Sludge-man tries to make limbs, the sludge is stretched thin. She simply noted the thinnest section and sent paper blades flying.

She saw that now with less mass, the brash boy that was stuck inside managed to get his hand free. “Here! Hold on!” Yomiko threw a paper rope, and tied onto the boy’s wrist for extra measure, then handed the other end of the rope to the green-haired boy. 

While she was busy handling more of the sludge, the boy started to pull his friend out, but once again it barely made a difference, the other boy wasn’t able to budge at all. Yomiko knew this can’t go on, the fire around them was getting stronger, and although her paper was resistant to flames it wasn’t totally immune. Soon she won’t be able to fight head-on, and the paper rope will burn too. 

“Hey! Everyone! Start pulling!” Until a lanky blond man with sunken cheeks and shadows under its eyes ran towards the boy and held onto the rope as well. Soon, more people jumped in to help, Yomiko narrowly dodged a punch as she had to divert her attention from defending herself to extending the paper rope, making it long enough for multiple adults to hold onto it. “Here!” She shouted and they all snatched whatever handhold they could.

“No you don’t!” The Sludge-man now is focused on attacking the adults rather than Yomiko, but she fends off their attacks easily with more paper blades cutting the sludge before they could extend too much. Slowly but surely, the other boy stuck in the sludge was being freed. 

Yomiko doubled her efforts to cut the sludge around the boy, until finally with a “Heave! Ho!” the crowd managed to pull him out. Now without a hostage, Yomiko’s torrent of papers surged forward to encase the sludge-man entirely in a ball. “Let go of me woman! No! Noooooo“ 

Yomiko simply shouted “You’re not getting away!” and threw her entire supply of paper into trapping the villain. It didn’t take too long to seal them completely, and she shrunk it as far as she could, but the ball was still a respectable size. She had to hurriedly pull back with the crowd as the fire was getting much too dangerous. Yomiko saw a man with water taps poking out of their sleeves ready to blast the area with water and had to quickly maneuver the paper ball sealing the sludge-man out of the line of fire.  _ ‘My paper has always been more vulnerable to water compared to fire...’  _ She thought as she rolled the ball forward.

Soon after getting out of the danger zone, Yomiko breathed a sigh of relief. Absently, Yomiko realized that the boy that was freed was blond. She saw the adults reprimanding the green-haired boy -  _ ‘So their names are Midoriya and the other is Bakugo?’  _ Yomiko heard from afar - then she was startled to find a super gigantic woman staring down at her from above.

“Wow, you’re as big as a mountain!” She couldn’t stop herself from blurting out. Yomiko quickly covered her mouth and flushed with embarrassment but Mount Lady simply laughed boisterously. 

“Hahaha! That’s why I’m called Mount Lady! You better remember me, ‘kay?” The gigantic woman then reached downwards and tried to take the paper ball into her hands.

“No! No! Wait! If I don’t touch it he will escape!” Yomiko managed to stop Mount Lady just in time, and Mount Lady instead flattened her palm. “Well, get on then!” Yomiko obediently rolled the ball onto the palm and stood still as Mount Lady lifted both to the air.

“I’ll be taking you to the police station so they can handle the capture, okay?” Mount Lady informed her, and Yomiko just nodded her head. But just before Mount Lady was about to turn away, Yomiko heard shouting from below her.

It was Midoriya who was shouting “Thank you Paper Lady!”, it seems like the adults were done lecturing him. Yomiko simply waved at him, and he enthusiastically waved back.

\--------------------------------

When Yomiko finally reached U.A after handing off the Sludge villain to the authorities and giving her statement, it was already dinner time. Students who stayed late for after school activities were leaving just as she waited at the gate to let her through.  _ ‘Well, their security certainly is impressive.’ _ Initially, she tried to barrel in, but failed, and was told to wait until someone came to get her. 

It didn’t take long for a man with black shaggy unkempt hair and a very bad case of dry eyes ( _ ‘I would recognize those signs anywhere, I get them very often after long reading sessions’ Yomiko thinks _ ) to come out of the gate. 

“I’m Shota Aizawa, I teach here. Follow me.” The man said and promptly walked back into the school. Yomiko was a bit confused by their mannerism but didn’t comment on it. He led her past many hallways and into an office that could not have been anyone but the principal's. She was shocked to find a child-sized mouse sitting in the chair.

“Hello, Ms. Readman. I heard you’ve put on quite a show today on your way here?” Principal Nezu had a scar on his face, which put Yomiko further off balance.  _ ‘The principal is a mouse! That talks! And has a scar! Am I in a dream? Oh, I hope I didn’t fall into a rabbit hole...’  _

“Oh, no you didn’t fall into a rabbit hole today Ms. Readman.” Yomiko quickly covered her mouth in embarrassment and mortification.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize I said it aloud.” But Principal Nezu simply smirked.

“You didn’t.” And she quickly felt her face redden like a tomato.

The other man, Mr. Aizawa had an amused grin on his face too, which made Yomiko very much want to dig a hole and jump into it. 

“Ah but Ms. Readman, you can’t just dig a hole and jump and expect to end up in - or in your case - get out of wonderland, that’s not how it works.” Mr. Aizawa was the one who landed the finishing blow, and Yomiko simply covered her face with her hands.

Principal Nezu then decided to have mercy on her and said “Alright alright, let’s stop the teasing. Welcome to U.A. Miss Readman. I hope you had a pleasant journey?”

She took a moment to regain her composure. “Oh yes, the streets were beautiful, although oddly new and strangely clean. How old is this city exactly?” 

“Old enough. The main reason to what you saw is because it’s constantly being rebuilt after being damaged by heroes and villains alike.” It was Mr. Aizawa that answered her question.

“Heroes? Villains?” Yomiko tilted her head in confusion.

“Have you been living under a rock your entire life?” Aizawa gave her a deadpan look.

“Uhm…” She wasn’t quite sure how she was going to explain her apartment building filled with books, but before she could say more, Principal Nezu spoke again.

“We in U.A. teach aspiring young heroes that fight villains and help pave the way towards their success. After all, we are known as the No.1 school when it comes to hero courses. “

_ ‘So this is a school that teaches heroes? I’ve never heard of a school like that…’  _ Yomiko was aware that she was one of those special people who had unusual powers, and either fought with or against many other such individuals while she was doing agent work. But most of the time she still interacted with people who had none wherever she lived and worked. 

“You probably never saw too many usages of quirks, seeing as you lived in Tokyo, a strictly quirk-restricted city…… If you're an actual civilian as you claim to be, that is.” Principal Nezu’s voice dropped low, adding a menacing tone to his words.

Yomiko was very much alarmed. Mr. Aizawa also became less laid back from the principal’s words.

“But don’t worry. I am aware that you’ve worked for the British Library as a special agent. In fact, it wasn’t Sakura Highschool that contacted us, the British Library did. And they asked us to hire you as a teacher.” Principal Nezu’s tone returned to normal as he took out an envelope that clearly contained letters. Yomiko could recognize the sigil on it anywhere, she also recognized the handwriting that wrote the address.  _ ‘Hey, that’s Joker’s!’ _

“Would you believe me if I said that this is around five pages worth of singing your praises?” She couldn’t help the silly smile that curled her lips as she heard those words. 

“Of course, it wasn’t  _ actually _ five pages of praises…” Yomiko’s smile drops. “But I was still very impressed by the things they said. At first, I was a bit skeptical, but seeing your performance today has erased much of my doubts.” The principal took out a remote controller and the wall on the side revealed a screen and video footage of her confrontation with the sludge-man.

“It would be such a waste to let you go and allow you to integrate into the  _ boring _ side of society. So I thought, ‘Why not?’ and gave you a call. I’m glad to see you were as skilled as they claimed.” He spoke ‘boring’ like it was one of the worst adjectives to describe things in life. Mr. Aizawa, who wasn’t aware of her abilities, watched the video footage intently and found himself rather impressed.

“Paper? During a fire? You’ve got skills, woman.” Yomiko glowed with pride.

“I could stop bullets too. And the paper ball is strong enough to stop a torpedo, for your information.” And Mr. Aizawa whistled from her words, and then looked her in the eyes. 

“Well, what happens if you couldn’t use your powers anymore?” Yomiko was confused, but then suddenly his eyes glowed red and closed the distance. She reflexively tried to pull up paper from her sleeves to cut him, but the paper failed to respond. In fact, she felt that the papers on her body were all going slack and slipping out of her clothes… Mr. Aizawa lifted Yomiko into the air while holding onto her shirt as she failed to retaliate... until his hand gripped nothing but thin paper as her clothes disintegrated into papers entirely, leaving Yomiko in nothing but her underwear and bra. 

Yomiko hasn’t felt this embarrassed since the time she accidentally conjured a wedding dress from paper right in front of Donny. 

  
  


\--------------------------------------

“WAAAAAH!” Yomiko bawled on the floor, clothing restored after Mr. Aizawa quickly averted his gaze. 

“I- I- I’m… I’m so, so sorry.” Mr. Aizawa couldn’t look at her direction without blushing up a storm.

Yomiko hugged her body defensively, pouted, and sharply turned her head away - like a stereotypical girl that is vexed by something or someone. 

“Shota Aizawa, famous pro-hero Eraser Head, capable of nullifying a villain’s powers and has one of the highest mission success rates, reduced to a stuttering teenage boy after seeing a naked woman. Oh, if only people knew!” Principal Nezu amusedly spoke up after a while of awkward silence.

_ (Unbeknownst to the two, Nezu was doing his utmost best to suppress his laughter. He also had a camera that recorded everything. And this became one of his favorite things to watch again and again, just for the laughs.)  _

Mr. Aizawa actually glared menacingly at the principal. “Now, you could laugh at me all you want, but don’t make fun of her ending up naked. I doubt you’ll be happy if your life story was revealed without your permission, hmm?” 

All amusement fled from the principal’s cold eyes, “Point taken.”

Yomiko directed a scowl at the principal as she blew her nose into a piece of paper, “Meanie!”

( _ After Donny passed away she learned fairly quickly how to give regular paper the texture of tissue paper. She doesn’t like thinking back on those times.)  _

“Anyhow, here is the contract. Take a look.” Yomiko took the paper from Principal Nezu, quickly read through it, and narrowed her eyes at the salary incredulously.

“Why are you giving a substitute teacher the salary fit for an agent?” She had to count the zeros at the end twice just to be sure she wasn’t seeing things.

There was also a bonus.

_ ‘Why is there a bonus!?’ _

“Because you’ll basically be doing the same work. You’ll receive missions, assist other heroes when called, and you’ll also be acting as a teacher - for multiple different subjects - whenever the others are gone on a mission. You’re basically going to be an agent that is affiliated with us, U.A. High School, but also work as a teacher. And since you’ll only be asked to teach when other heroes are away, you’ll be working in the school library most of the time as a librarian-” And before the principal could explain further, Yomiko already took out a pen from who knows where and signed her name onto the contract.

“Deal! When do I start?”

“Tomorrow.”

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

Aizawa Shota watched the young female substitute teacher walk out of the principal’s office with a spring in her steps. He was quite bewildered that she managed to recover from being  _ accidentally stripped naked _ without much of a fuss when he expected to have her at least be ranting for the next few hours on the injustice of mistreatment like most other women. 

But Yomiko Readman was not most women. She seemed to be more excited about being a librarian than an actual teacher, moves about with the body language of a clumsy fool, yet could kick villain butts all the way to Saturday, speed read through contracts with tiny texts within a minute, and could, allegedly, stop bullets and torpedoes with paper.

Women really were strange creatures.

“So, what do you think of her?” Says the small-bodied but big-brained mouse on the principal chair. 

“She’s as strange as strange can get.” He remarked drily.

“A perfect addition to the cast, don’t you think?” The principal smiled, and Shota was not quite sure how to refute that claim.

“Besides, all of you  _ really _ need to take a break.” Shota averted his eyes from Nezu as they spoke those words. “You’re all pulling double duty as heroes and teachers, both of which are very demanding and tiring jobs, and being  _ magnanimous fools _ as you all are, refuse to take a reasonable amount of rest.” 

“There’s no rest for the wicked, so us heroes gotta work to match.” Shota defended feebly, already knowing what Nezu would say to argue his point.

“With how things are going on, only  _ dead _ heroes and villains would actually rest, neither of which are things society appreciates, despite dead villains being more pragmatic and cost-productive in general.” Says Nezu, ever the cold-hearted pragmatist that the public rarely sees as hidden by his mousy exterior. 

“Well, you know the saying, ‘heroes never die’...” 

“But ‘there's no body, which means the villain always lives to reappear in the next episode’, and as long as they manage to get one last mischief off, it will always count as a loss for heroes as there’s still  **more** work needed to clean up the aftermath. Come now Aizawa, We’ve been through this argument. All of you are working too much as it is.” 

“You know how I feel about substitute teachers! I have no qualms with them in the support and management courses, but regular substitute teachers have no place in the hero courses.” 

“Yes, but that’s because there are no substitute teachers that match the skills and power level of  _ professional heroes _ . And most professional heroes don’t have a teaching degree either. She’s different.”

“I admit she has skills, but how do you expect her to cover for multiple different subjects?” Nezu in response handed over  _ four pages _ of the five paged letter. Shota gave it a glance and blanched at the very first page of bullet-point lists.

“Two certificates for math and chemistry, a fitness instructor pass, five medals for librarian services, three degrees in different types of world histories,  _ Six Master certificates in language? _ And… what the heck… One two three… A total of  _ NINETEEN _ honorary professor positions in literature of all varying types? WHO THE HELL IS SHE!?” And this was only the first page. Shota dreads what might be written on the second one, or the ones after. 

“A frighteningly skilled young lady, that’s who. Her academic achievements are only limited by her willingness to actually attend exams. She is a voracious reader and her hunger for books and knowledge is so strong that she surpassed the status of being a bibliophile.” Aizawa wasn’t quite sure what could surpass a bibliophile, so he asked.

“What’s the one after bibliophile?” 

“Biblio **_mania_ ** .” And Aizawa paled. Words that end with -mania or related to ‘maniac’ are seldom used as joke terms for exaggerations. Those are as serious as -phobia and actual life-threatening allergies. 

“Instead of using the time to take exams or work to climb the academic ladder, she prefers to use that time to read more books. According to her letter of recommendation, she only  _ deigns _ to use her time to teach because it means she could tell and encourage others to read books.” 

“What the heck.”

“Oh, there is more.” Aizawa face-palmed from Nezu’s words.

“ _ There is more!? _ ”

“Oh yes. Her dream job started out as a librarian, but then she was scouted for secret agent work as she possessed the quirk necessary to continue the line of paper wielders, was coerced into service with promises of rare books and seduction from her mentor, becoming the best Agent Paper within its nineteen iterations since she killed her mentor the eighteenth, and has successfully survived every mission so far.” Nezu rattled off, though Shota was more focused on the last part.

“Survive? Not success?”

“The best agents are the ones that stay alive. Doesn’t matter if they are the most skilled if they die after a single mission, you’re a hero, you know exactly how it is. It just turns out her mission objectives don’t usually align to her survival, otherwise, she would have a flawless record.” 

“What the heck.”

“Yeah.”

“What the heck.”

\----------------------------------------

Shota tiredly walked out of the principal office after being bombarded by more information regarding a certain new substitute teacher. He took a look at the time, it was nine-thirty. Usually, he would be on city patrol to keep the peace in the city by now, but after what happened today he really doesn’t think he can do it. He sent a message through his phone to inform his agency, and then dialed the number for Recovery Girl.

She picked up promptly, only taking a few beeps. “Yes, what is it Shota?”

“I need some advice on giving out apology gifts.”

“Apology gifts? Whatever for?”

“I may or may not have accidentally stripped a woman naked.”

“YOU WHAT!?”

Shota had to lift his phone away from his ear from how loud she shouted. Recovery Girl has a very impressive lung capacity despite her old age.

“You MUST apologize to her! Have you already apologized?”

“I did. She appears to not have minded, but you know, I still feel I should get her something nice, on principle.”

“Yes, yes. But tell me, who is she?”

“Her name is Yomiko Readman. Nezu just hired her to work as a librarian and substitute teacher for U.A a few moments ago. I used my quirk on her to try and see how she fares without her quirks but…”

“I gather that something went wrong?” She remarked drily.

“Yeah, her quirk is paper manipulation. And turns out she made paper look like her clothes. Once I canceled her quirk, her clothes literally went poof.” Shota could swear that he felt Recovery Girl’s eyebrows rise beyond her forehead.

“Oh dear.”   
  
“So, what do I do? You know I’m no good at social interactions like this.”

“Mhm, well, she’s not your sweetheart so flowers are no go. Do you know what she likes?”

Shota Aizawa thinks back to the fact that this new substitute teacher has an entire apartment building filled with books.

“Err, she likes books. But she already has a lot of those.”

“That’s fine. You’re not trying to give her something to make her day, just trying to say you’re sorry. It doesn’t have to be books that have autographs from their authors or something.” 

Shota felt that Recovery Girl had a point. 

“Thanks. Sorry for taking up your time.”

“It’s fine. Just, you’re probably not going to want to cancel her quirk next time. Especially not in public.”

Shota closed his eyes in dread. He can’t start to imagine what it would be like.

“Recovery Girl, you didn’t need to make me think about that…”

“Remember to take your eye drops regularly. ‘Kay?”

Shota just gave her a ‘Hnn’ as a response and hung up. He supposed that now was a good time as any and used his eye drops. 

That night, he slept in his bed instead of his sleeping bag for the first time in weeks, and it felt like he rested better than ever. Thirty years old really was a turning point in physical fitness, he is probably not going to be able to pull off the usual all-nighters a few years from now on without feeling like dying. 

He made his way through the day, as usual, teaching (or terrifying) the students was really the best part of his double career. Fighting has never appealed to him. If it wasn’t for the fact that his skills and Erasure quirk are very appreciated in the community, he would have already quit a long time ago. But his contribution is usually necessary for most villain cases.

None of the teachers were missing today, so he supposes that Yomiko Readman was probably working in the library. He took a trip to the local bookstore after school, and fetched a local history book about Musutafu from the strangely empty shelves - aren’t bookstores supposed to have filled shelves? - before noticing a picture on the bulletin board of the store.

It had the face of Yomiko Readman on it.

Also, letters writing “Our New VIP!” and a picture of her buying a literal mountain worth of books. 

_ ‘So that’s why there are so many empty shelves…’ _

He checked out and went to the school library. It was still open, and he saw Yomiko Readman merrily sorting through the books she bought, placing them in the shelves so quickly that the pile of books visibly diminished after each trip from pile to shelf. Shota absentmindedly noted that the books have already been tagged and labeled, and she was using quick sort so quickly that it’s almost like magic. The impression of magic was further reinforced when she is using papers to assist her efforts.

Papers automatically forming into ladders and stairs, or lifting piles of books to her height as she traversed the higher sections, or righting up books that fell flat in their shelves, or nudging displaced chairs and tables to the right orderly locations… It was surreal and it felt like watching Merlin doing the dishes in a certain animated movie. 

The other librarians just stood by the side with wide shocked eyes, so Shota surmised that they felt the same way. 

And in no time at all did Yomiko Readman finish her sorting frenzy. “There, all done!” The other librarians quickly crowded her, showering her with praise and admirations. She simply scratches her messy head and Shota decides that he has to make it quick or else the librarians are never going to stop. He has no time for this as he should be doing patrol tonight, seeing as he already skipped yesterday.

“Readman, here.” He hands her the book.

“Ah, a book on Musutafu’s local histories? Thank you! I planned to buy the history section tomorrow as I cleaned out the literature section today, so I don’t have this book just yet.” Shota felt sweat run down his head from how casually she just mentioned buying out one-fifth of a bookstore. 

“Well, you’re welcome. And also sorry about yesterday.” Shota hopes she has the mind to not specify what happened yesterday.

“Oh it’s alright. You didn’t mean to strip me naked.” Dammit, Readman!

Shota’s expression soured when he noted that the other librarians have most certainly heard her. Attempting to explain things will only make it worse, so despite knowing that beating a hasty retreat might be equally bad in the eyes of onlookers, he decided to escape all the same.

He managed to take out some frustration on the criminals tonight, but only some. No use to be too rough on small-time pickpockets and robbers when they were too weak to pose much of a threat. He’s not Endeavor that follows the credo of ‘There is no kill like overkill’ and turns up the heat for both seasoned villains and weak criminals alike. 

Shota was also slightly glad that his friend Hizashi Yamada, also known as Present Mic, is forbidden to join night-time patrols, as his quirk is too noisy and would result in disturbing people’s sleep. Shota knows for sure that someone as gossip-savvy as Yamada is going to know all about the accident from yesterday, so nights are going to be the only peaceful time he isn’t badgered by them for the oncoming weeks.

He was not looking forward to tomorrow. Oh, if only he could call in sick…

Hmm, well, they  _ do  _ have a substitute teacher now...   
  


**Author's Note:**

> Things to take note of:
> 
> 1\. Story follows the R.O.D OVA timeline, and this is an attempt at bringing both the MHA world and ROD world together. 
> 
> 2\. Both Nancy and Nancy clone are dead. No, Yomiko does not love Nancy romantically, but she still loved her very much as a friend.
> 
> 3\. Yomiko, who lives like a recluse, is not very aware of quirks and heroes and villains. But being someone with quirks and having fought many people who had special powers, she is still more used to seeing it.
> 
> 4\. Currently the story is happening right before Midoriya and Bakugo enroll into U.A.


End file.
